The prior art includes many constructions for holding the wall, floor or ceiling tile or blocks to a panel which in turn is secured to a building support. Included in such art are panels having a plurality of spaced parallel ribs, but the latter are utilized to provide dove-tail joints to lock the tiles or blocks in place, and are hidden from view. Other prior art includes a mat for mounting tiles, but the mat in this case is a molded affair to provide block-like sockets, each socket receiving one tile.
My improved construction lends itself well to modern, high-production methods in the formation of the component parts and when the building blocks are set inplace, provides the appearance of a professionally-made wall of conventional construction.
The wall construction of my invention includes a flat panel of thin, rigid material which has a plurality of spaced parallel ridges, the latter providing flat-bottomed troughs therebetween. The veneer building blocks are of a predetermined length, and of a width to fit within a trough without covering the ridges defining the trough. The panel may have a paint finish thereon so that the exposed surfaces of the ridges provide the appearance of mortar.
As a further feature of my invention, a plurality of identical crosspieces are used for disposition between adjoining ends of adjacent building blocks to properly space such blocks and to provide the appearance of mortar therebetween. In some of the prior art, actual mortar, or a mortar-simulating compound fills the space between adjacent blocks and, just like conventional mortar, this discolors with age and is difficult to clean. In my improved construction, the ridges and crosspieces give the appearance of mortar and, since the exposed surfaces of these parts are coated, such as with baked enamel, it is very easy to wipe such surfaces clean.